Major Ballot Measures

Major Ballot Measures

Measure

Yes

No

Reporting

1

Allow Medical Marijuana

62.6%

37.4%

100%

2

Stem Cell Research

52.6%

47.4%

100%

State Highlights

As the economic crisis reshaped the presidential race in early October, Senator John McCain abandoned his campaign in Michigan, a state where he had spent $8 million on advertisements and had made repeated appearances.

That decision might have affected Republican candidates farther down the ticket, as Democrats won close House contests against Republican incumbents, giving Democrats an 8-to-7 edge in the state's delegation. Representative Joe Knollenberg, an eight-term Republican, lost to Gary Peters, a Democrat and former state lottery commissioner, in the Detroit suburbs. Jack Kevorkian, the so-called suicide doctor, won more than 9,000 votes.

In the district that includes Battle Creek, Representative Tim Walberg, a first-term Republican, lost to Mark Schauer, the State Senate Democratic leader.

Voters passed a ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana, and another to loosen restrictions on stem cell research.

Carl Levin, a Democratic incumbent, easily defeated a field of Senate candidates that included Jack Hoogendyk, a Republican state representative. KAREEM FAHIM